Self-Care

Self-care is so important- that might not be a term you're accustomed to, but we use it a lot in my work. It means taking time to take care of YOU- your body, your emotions, your spirit. It's different for every human. For some, it may be going to church, or going for a run, or shopping. We take so much time to encourage our students to engage in self-care- and yet, for many of us adults, we let it slide.

If you're a mom, it's really an area that we push to the side- our focus is so much on our kids and spouse. Sports, homework, laundry, packing lunches. Kisses, and ferrying kids this way and that.

For single moms, it's even more pushed down on the priority list. When kiddos might be with our ex partners- we're grocery shopping, cleaning, doing laundry- because when the kiddos are with us we're very focused on meeting their needs and getting extra love in. It's the few minutes of quiet to listen to a podcast, or catch up on Salvage Dogs, or Grey's Anatomy.

And yet, it needs to move up the list. I've been a cranky witch for the last two weeks with DST- my oldest is struggling with sleep, work has been a bit wonky pants. It's been stressful with a capital S.
So I went all renegade and decided I needed a week of self care.

With me, that looked like making dinners that I enjoyed, and weren't necessarily kid friendly- I mean, I have cereal. They aren't going to starve.

Overlooking the fact that my kitchen floor desperately needs a good "hands and knees" scrub.

Having the groceries delivered even though I am perfectly capable of going to the market with the boys (and who am I kidding- this is a VERY regular part of my self care)

Finding a hair stylist that comes to my house, colors my hair, colors M's hair, and does cuts for us all. (FINE that was last week!)

Getting a fantastic massage (again, by someone that came to my house) that left me feeling freaking amazing. Like a gladiator- my neck doesn't hurt, my jaw is loosey goosey again (I'm a grinder), and my IT band got the release it was so desperately seeking.

Letting go of my perceptions of packed lunches and just making sandwiches for each kid.

Making reservations to have dinner with a friend, sans children.

Whatever your self care is, get on it. You need it, mama. And if you say you don't, you probably need it, more than you know.

Snow Days and Cleaning? Or is that wheezing?

I love me a snow day! We got a good ten inches of true snowball snow overnight so therefore it's our first snow day of the 18/19 school year! AND they called it last night so there was a general woo-hoo atmosphere in our house. The kids played outside for three hours (there are so many Nerf darts in the snow and on the roof!).

They were in their glory!!! I took advantage of the quiet inside to do some meal prep. Roasted corn and jalapeno grits, oven roasted squash, chicken and apple sausage, and packaged up the turkey lasagna I made Saturday. 

So a damn good start to the day. I went to get toilet paper from the cabinets in the laundry room and found a bottle of Clorox Clean Up (but not the kind with bleach- I can't be anywhere near bleach after the chemical airway burns I dealt with last winter- all because I wanted clean grout on the kitchen floor!!!!). 

OK, so I still have the kids outside making snowmen and then ninja chopping them down, repeat. FABULOUS opportunity to clean the first floor bathroom, which gets kind of grody because two boys, bad aim, you can just imagine the carnage in there. 

I'm pretty damn crunchy when it comes to cleaning supplies because ANYTHING with fabricated fragrance (including Mrs. Meyers and Method) triggers wheezing in me, swelling in J's sinus/airway/ears and just pretty much sucks all around. Other than the Seda France Japanese Quince- the signature scent of the Virginia Hotel which is my favorite place in Cape May. That is fine for us, but whoah, it's expensive!!! When I die I better be embalmed with the scented room oil. Legit, slather it all over me.  I love for my house to smell yummy and with Petey that's a necessity- I mean, he smells like dog. I adore the Revive fabric refresher from Melaleuca (and yes I know the EWG doesn't like their products because they don't give up their proprietary "recipe"- but I have researched every single damn ingredient and they're safe as shit. I even spritz the dog with it occasionally) so my house smells like Tahiti (Sea Salt and Vanilla, in case you want to recreate that heavenly scent)!

But I found that bottle of Clorox. The kids were outside, the dog was outside, I opened the window in the bathroom. And I did two sprays on the toilet. Not an excessive amount, by any means. It took about three seconds for me to realize I had made a horrible mistake. Cue burning eyes and wheezing. I hightailed it out of that bathroom so fast I don't think my feet hit the floor. Yeah, that wasn't pretty. 

Put a scarf on, went in, wiped it up, and took all the paper towels with it on it to the OUTSIDE bin. ALL the way down at the curb. I wanted it OUT OUT OUT. 

Clearly, that's the last time I will every make that mistake! I am so glad the boys were outside and I could open doors and windows and air everything out before they came back in. 

Re-approached the bathroom with my Tough and Tender wipes and Sol-U-Guard. Now I have a super clean bathroom and I can still breath. 

And do some research into airway responses to manufactured products/cleaning products. J's doctor at Mass Eye and Ear Infirmary has given me a lot of information regarding the swelling and inflammation that can occur from exposure to them. For J, that means his ability to hear is rapidly impacted due to the narrowing of all of his airways (which prohibits normal fluid drainage- um ears!).

Be smart cleaners. Don't pull a Mama Bee!!!! Or don't clean at all and enjoy the snow day!